Word
ما میتوانیم دو کیلو کرهی تازه بخریم.
Meaning
We can buy two kilos of fresh butter.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of ما میتوانیم دو کیلو کرهی تازه بخریم.
ما
we
دوdo
two
خریدنkharidan
to buy
توانستنtavânestan
to be able to
Questions & Answers about ما میتوانیم دو کیلو کرهی تازه بخریم.
Why isn't there a word for "of" between "two kilos" and "fresh butter"?
In English we say "two kilos of butter", but in Farsi, you just put the unit of measurement directly before the noun: دو کیلو کره (two kilos butter). This is the standard way to answer a "how much?" (چقدر) question when dealing with uncountable nouns like butter, rice, or water.
Why does the verb for "buy" start with the prefix بـ (be-)?
Because of the verb میتوانیم (we can). In Farsi, when you use a modal verb like "can" or "want", the second verb in the sentence has to be in the subjunctive form. For most verbs, you make the subjunctive by adding the prefix بـ (be-) to the present stem. So, we use بخریم (that we buy) instead of the normal present tense.
Why is there an extra letter ی attached to the word کره (butter)?
The word for butter is کره (kare). Because we are linking it to the adjective تازه (fresh), we need an Ezafe connector between them. Since کره ends in a silent ه (which makes an "e" sound), the connecting sound becomes "ye". In writing, this is often shown by adding ی above or next to the ه, making it کرهی تازه (kare-ye taze).
Do measure words like کیلو (kilo) become plural after a number?
No. In Farsi, nouns and units of measurement always stay singular after a number. You say دو کیلو (literally "two kilo"), just like you would say دو ماشین (two car). Pluralizing it to "kilos" is strictly an English grammar rule.